Criminal Justice 101: A victim's perspective

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — She's no longer in high school, but one local young woman has had an extensive education in the criminal justice system over the last 18 months.

It's been a hands-on, first-person experience in a McKinley County criminal case, a case that's left her wiser and more cynical.

But it's also left her stronger, she says.

To protect her privacy, The Independent will use the pseudonym of Michelle Begay. Michelle is the young woman whose allegations of sexual molestation led to criminal charges being filed against her step-father, Carl Campos of Gamerco, N.M.

But if that wasn't enough to cope with, Michelle and other family members believe a series of events throughout the case have only added episodes of injustice to their journey through McKinley County's criminal justice system.

Three charges
Three criminal charges were filed against Campos in August 2005 after a conflict with his then 15-year-old step-daughter, Michelle's half-sister Tori (also a pseudonym). According to a written Statement of Probable Cause by McKinley County Sheriff's Investigator Diedra M. Gonzales, Tori told her that Campos "got into her face," poked her angrily in the forehead and threatened to hit her with a belt after Tori had an argument with one of her younger half-sisters, one of two daughters Campos has with Tori and Michelle's mother. Tori then retreated to her bedroom and called her paternal grandparents, who took her to their home the next day.

Those grandparents have since been granted legal guardianship of Tori. Although Tori and Michelle have different fathers, Tori's grandparents treat Michelle like a granddaughter and have been by her side throughout the ensuing criminal case.

When sheriff's officers were called to the grandparents' home to respond to Tori's battery report, Tori also told them she had been a witness to numerous incidents of inappropriate sexual behavior on the part of Campos in the family home. Investigator Gonzales was then contacted to interview Tori about those allegations.

Gonzales' interview with Tori led to an interview with Michelle, who was then 19 years old and no longer living at home. Michelle shared similar stories of inappropriate sexual behavior on the part of Campos, and she also revealed to Gonzales sexual molestation incidents that she said Campos had forced on her from the time she was about nine until she was about 14 years old. Michelle said she once tried to tell her mother about the incidents, but her mother wouldn't listen. She never told anyone else.

Gonzales then arrested Campos on Aug. 9, 2005, and he was booked into the McKinley County Detention Center. Campos was charged with criminal sexual penetration involving a child under 13, a first degree felony; aggravated indecent exposure; and battery against a household member. After the Oct. 6, 2005 preliminary hearing, Campos' case was bound over to District Court, but only for the criminal sexual penetration and battery charges.

Legal road bumps
Over the next several months, Campos entered a not guilty plea, and the case dragged on with various legal skirmishes between Campos' Albuquerque attorney, Mark Fine, and Assistant District Attorney Bernadine Martin over issues involving the conditions of Campos' pretrial release, disclosure of evidence, Fine's requests for dismissal of the charges, and squabbles over "safe house interviews," about which Martin made conflicting statements in several court hearings.

There were also many courtroom conversations about an impending plea agreement between the two sides a plea agreement that Michelle vehemently did not support.

Campos' trial was initially set for April 4, 2006, then pushed back to April 18, 2006. On April 10, 2006, District Judge Grant L. Foutz ordered the battery charge be severed from the case and be pursued under a separate case number.

The case hit a major bump in the road in May 2006 when prosecutor Martin was herself arrested and charged with battery against a household member and three counts of child abandonment, which resulted in her being briefly suspended from the district attorney's office.

During the summer and fall of 2006, other prosecutors filled in for the absent Martin, a July trial was postponed, an October trial was postponed, the New Mexico Supreme Court ordered an extension for the case, and finally the trial was set again for late November.

Birthday plea
Much to the frustration of Michelle and her family, the district attorney's office offered Campos a plea agreement a decision that has left the family feeling betrayed and angry. On Nov. 27, 2006, on the eve of the November trial date, Campos got a great birthday present when he signed the plea agreement on his 35th birthday, an agreement that made no mention of the sexual penetration charge.

While Campos agreed to undergo a Sex Offenders Risk Assessment, he only pled guilty to a third degree felony child abuse charge. He is set to receive a Conditional Discharge, which means if he successfully completes the conditions of his probation Michelle and her family have been told that will be three years the felony child abuse charge will be dismissed.

In addition, the plea agreement states all other additional charges in the case "will be dismissed, or if not yet filed, shall not be brought against the defendant." This statement remains a mystery to Michelle's family members, who still don't understand what happened to the other two criminal counts against Campos and who don't understand the district attorney's office's explanations about those counts explanations that don't seem to jive with statements by other legal officials.

Campos' sentencing is now awaiting the arrival of the Sex Offenders Risk Assessment report.